Top schools in Luton revealed

Connie Primmer

Barnfield South tops the table for GCSE results in Luton with 77 per cent of students achieving five or more A*-C grade GCSEs in English and Maths.

The figures were revealed in the annual Department for Education performance tables, published today.

Independent school Bury Park Educational Institute (Al - Hikmah Secondary School) was second with 72 per cent of students achieving this in 2013, followed by Barnfield West with 65 per cent.

Barnfield CEO Helen Mayhew said: “This is an incredible accomplishment for both students and staff of which we are very proud.

“Congratulations to Barnfield South and West Academies for their tremendous success rates. We are dedicated to ensuring that all our students reach their full potential and are now working with this year’s Year 11 students to ensure they will also celebrate similar achievements this summer.”

The GCSE results for the academy in Rotheram Avenue are its highest ever and a 26 per cent increase on the preivous year.

Denbigh, Icknield and Ashcroft High Schools all scored more than 60 per cent of students achieving five or more A*-C GCSEs (or equivalent) including English and maths GCSEs.

The worst performing school in Lutonin terms of GCSE attainment in 2013 was Barnfield Business and Enterprise Studio, where just nine per cent of students achieved five or more A*-C GCSEs.

In November last year, the Under-Secretary of State for Schools wrote to the college with an official pre-warning regarding the performance of students and highlighting the “unacceptably low” standard.

Of the 63 primary schools in Luton, Tennyson Road topped the table for 100 per cent of students achieving level 4 or above in reading, writing and maths.

Wenlock CofE Junior, Hillborough Junior and Stopsley Community Primary all had 90 per cent of pupils or more achieving Level 4 or above in reading, writing and maths -all improved from 2012.

At the bottom of the table was Whitefield Primary School Community School with 43 per cent of pupils achieving Level 4 or above, down from 63 per cent in 2012.

Cardinal Newman Catholic School A Specialist Science College had the best A-level results in Luton, closely followed by Luton Sixth Form College.

Chris Nicholls, Principal at Luton Sixth Form College, said: “We are absolutely delighted the data shows our students have made progress that is significantly better than the national average in our A Level and vocational qualifications.

“The data in the performance tables is very difficult to interpret because there are many different types of qualification studied at Luton Sixth Form College and many students take a mixture of A Level and BTEC courses.

“The facts are our percentage of high grades at both A Level and BTEC continue to rise, our retention rates have grown and our success rates have improved again and are above the national sixth form college benchmark.

“We are by far the largest provider of academic and vocational qualifications for 16 to 18-year-olds in this performance table for Luton and we are proud that we continue to provide an outstanding education for over half of the young people in the town.”

Of the students taking A-levels in Luton last year, 99.8 per cent got at least one A-level and 76.2 per cent achieved at least two,